Board Violates Act, Again

For the second time in 9 months, the State of Maryland Open Meetings Compliance Board has found the Montgomery County Board of Education failed to comply with the Maryland Open Meetings Act.

The subject of this recent decision was a series of "retreats" taken by the Board of Education over a 3 year period. In response to the filing of this complaint, the Board of Education's attorney "argued the complaint was baseless."(Page 2 of decision)

The Open Meetings Compliance Board found

"that certain items considered during the course of retreats of the County Board were subject to the Open Meetings Act; minutes for those retreats were required. While minutes were prepared, the minutes were deficient in that they lacked the County Board's approval."

The retreats were held on the following dates:

January 18, 2007 - President Nancy Navarro
May 31, 2007  - President Nancy Navarro
June 24, 2008  - President Nancy Navarro
October 6, 2008  - President Nancy Navarro
January 26, 2009  - President Shirley Brandman
January 27, 2009  - President Shirley Brandman
May 8, 2009 - President Shirley Brandman

The unapproved minutes from these meetings have been obtained exclusively by a member of the Parents' Coalition and are available on our website. These documents do not appear on the Board of Education website.

The Maryland Open Meetings Act states: 

It is essential to the maintenance of a democratic society that, except in special and appropriate circumstances: (1) public business be performed in an open and public manner; and (2) citizens be allowed to observe: (i) the performance of public officials; and (ii) the deliberations and decisions that the making of public policy involves. (b) (1) The ability of the public, its representatives, and the media to attend, report on, and broadcast meetings of public bodies and to witness the phases of the deliberation, policy formation, and decision making of public bodies ensures the accountability of government to the citizens of the State.
(2) The conduct of public business in open meetings increases the faith of the public in government and enhances the effectiveness of the public in fulfilling its role in a democratic society.

Open Meeting 10272009

Three members of the current MCPS Board of Education are attorneys.

It is hoped that at future "retreats" all policy discussions will be announced in advance to the public to allow for the public to observe those discussions. In addition, that any policy discussions or decisions at "retreats" will be properly recorded in minutes that have been approved by the Board of Education.